by Azalea Ellis
Her hands fisted at her sides. “My duty has always lain with the people. I have honor. Even were you to tell me I must be flayed alive in the streets and whored out to animals, if this would mean the Sickness would cease to exist, I would agree a thousand times.” She stared at me defiantly.
I let the silence stretch for several long moments, then I moved to stand in front of her and took her hand in my own. She did not flinch as I pricked her with the lance. “You are free of the Sickness,” I said simply.
She swallowed a couple times, then pulled her hand back and watched as the small incision I’d made healed under the power of her Resilience. She bowed deeply. “I will serve you loyally in all matters, Eve-Redding, godkiller, life-bringer.”
I was skeptical.
Torliam nodded with satisfaction, and then we got down to the important business of planning out the immediate changes and Queen Mardinest’s efforts to organize the people on my behalf.
Once all of the high-level planning was finished, Torliam and I moved to leave, followed by my guards.
“Eve-Redding,” she called out.
I stopped and turned to face her again, one eyebrow raised.
“I have searched for the murderer of your human follower, but have not found them. If you have more information about these ‘allies of the Sickness’ who were endangering you, it might prove useful. I have some suspicions, but I can find no proof.”
My face settled into an expressionless mask. “And where is Ichi, then?”
She paled. “It was not I who ordered your human follower’s death. It is true, Ichi has disappeared, but he was a warrior of loyalty and honor. I do not believe he would have done this without my approval.”
“I don’t believe you. But don’t worry, I won’t kill you without making sure you’re guilty.” I left without looking back again. I already had people assigned to watch her and the goings on in the palace, to make sure she was doing her part in the necessary preparations. Plus, I couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t try to move against me or blackmail us again. If she tried to cover up her involvement in Blaine’s death after this, that would be the quickest way to implicate herself. If it really wasn’t her, then we probably had a bigger problem. Who else would have wanted us dead?
Three days later on Estreyer, while not even a complete day had passed on Earth, I stepped into the center of the city’s coliseum, followed by my team and guards. Despite the short period of forewarning, the surrounding stands were packed. It seemed as if every man, woman, and child in the city, as well as a few intelligent creatures, had come to listen to me today. Those who were not able to find seats crowded into the walkways, and when those were full, they surrounded the outside of the coliseum where large screens had been placed to broadcast my announcement live. Those who weren’t able to make it in person waited in front of public-use screens or their personal screens at home. According to Queen Mardinest, who had been somewhat pale-faced when she told me, industry had stopped for the day. No one was traveling, no one was working, and it would likely be impossible to find someone in the city who hadn’t yet heard about my triumphant return.
I was the first to admit that I could be a bit prideful, a bit arrogant. But I wasn’t planning a big show or a cocky speech. Really, with what I was about to do, it would be hard to find something more impactful. My new ability would speak for itself, and, once I provided proof of the cure, I would be leaving most of the difficult stuff to Queen Mardinest.
I walked out of a tunnel opening onto the floor of the coliseum, then up onto the performance floor. It took a while for the screams to die down. When they did, I said a couple short sentences about having found the lost god and being given the method to cure the Sickness, which were beginning to feel repetitive already.
Once again, I had to wait for the shouting and people throwing gold and flowers at me to die down. When it did, I signaled to one of my guards, and they brought out a child from the tunnel.
The child was heavily bound and gagged, like a deranged patient from an insane asylum.
The guard removed the gag, and the child screamed mindlessly, spitting out dark clots of blood and staring around with eyes that were corpselike and obviously blind. Her veins stood out dark against pale skin, her limbs were skeletal and covered with bite marks where she’d managed to try and eat herself, and her stomach was grotesquely distended, as if she carried a child, though I knew she didn’t. The screens displayed close-ups of the blatant signs of advanced Sickness. We would have held this display earlier, but for the difficulty in finding the perfect counterpart to make my announcement even more dramatic.
This girl would have been killed by now, normally. Her parents had seen my broadcast aboard the passenger ship when my team escaped from the palace. She’d just started to show signs of the Sickness at that point. Rather than turning her in, they’d hidden her away in their basement, hoping I would succeed before their child died, despite their fear the Sickness might spread to them.
My guard held her still, and I drew the lance out of its place between my left forearm and the armband wrapped around it.
I pricked her in the neck. My eyes fluttered with the rush of information, and I was almost overwhelmed with the sum of all that was wrong in her. It was surprising she was still alive, let alone struggling against her bindings and screaming. I funneled power through the lance, letting it gush out of me as quickly as it could be channeled into her.
Under the eyes of hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of people, her skin lost its papery quality and the black veins receded. Her belly shrunk. Her eyes lost that film of blindness. When I was finished, she was a too-thin girl trembling within her restraints. But most importantly, her gaze was lucid, and everyone watching could see the emotions fly across it. Disbelief, joy, relief. She cried, and a nation rejoiced.
My guard took her away, and I turned back to the crowds. “Since a time before history was recorded, the Sickness has ruled. Now, it is time for change. The humans are devastated and struggling against the same enemy our people have battled so long. These events were set in motion due to unnecessary fear, and Earth has joined Estreyer in fearing for the continuation of their world. But now, the cure to the Sickness had been found. We are honor bound to set things right, for them as well as ourselves. I have spoken with Queen Mardinest, and we are implementing new laws and policies to facilitate rapid healing and complete eradication of the Sickness, with those most worthy and most in need being the first to come before me. The fight before us is as arduous as any that has come before, and I must go, to fight back against our enemy’s spread on the front lines. Queen Mardinest will answer further questions.”
I waved, and she walked out of the tunnel, taking my place while I escaped. Healing was limited, since there was only one lance. Those who had useful abilities or influence, and volunteered their services on Earth, would receive priority healing for themselves and their families. Following them, children in the later stages of the Sickness had priority. There would be no more killing or burning of those with the Sickness. Instead, the infected would be made comfortable and safe to themselves and others, as much as possible. We had to mitigate the spread on Earth, and, once that was complete, we would slowly chip away at the numbers under the sway of the disease. It might be a task of years.
Hopefully, Mardinest could handle the backlash, the desperation, and the inherent danger of such extreme societal upheaval. I was only glad I didn’t have to be queen.
I returned to Earth with the team, letting some of the diplomatic envoys from Earth remain behind to help Queen Mardinest, as well as act as a line of communication to my home planet.
Kris hadn’t found anything that seemed to be an imprint of Blaine, but they’d still had a little funeral ceremony for him. They came back a little morose.
We helped to set up our new base of operations, housed in a huge building that had once been some sort of medical research facility where the staff lived on-site. It was actually one o
f the few buildings still quite intact after the invasion and subsequent riots, and many of the employees had still been safely barricaded within, desperately trying to find a cure for the meningolycanosis. They were resentful of our taking over their building and opening the lower levels to the public. Then they met Sam and learned about what he could do, and they couldn’t have been more courteous, all while salivating over the chance to experiment on him.
Everyone worked frantically to get everything set up. We had medical staff and emergency volunteers coming in from all over the world, but we still lacked enough resources to really put a dent in what the city needed. I understood that we weren’t the only place in the world that needed help, but this was the place where I was close enough to actually do something. “We need generators and oil, and I have to have buildings cleared out and prepared for people who’ve lost their homes. A place to sleep should be the least we can provide,” I insisted, talking into the camera of my new link.
The person displayed on its snapped-open surface shook his head. “Miss Redding, if you’re able to find local volunteers to help you clean out buildings, that will be fine. But I can’t promise a shipment of cots and blankets that large until next month, at least. It’s not that I don’t understand what you need. But I have a hundred people around the world asking for the same thing, and some of them are in places even worse off than you. I just don’t have it to give. Ask for donations from the civilians.”
The call cut off, and I growled aloud, throwing my head back in frustration. The ground floor of our new base was huge, with a gymnasium, cafeteria, and recreational area. People were camping out in the gymnasium and the edges of the cafeteria, but more came every day, and soon, we wouldn’t have the resources to even keep them clean and well-fed. We hadn’t even started bringing in large numbers of the infected yet, since we didn’t have enough places to contain them.
The city was still under Estreyan quarantine, and they created openings in the bubble for any supplies or workers coming in from outside. It just…wasn’t enough.
With little other option, we organized those who’d come to volunteer as well as those who’d come simply for food and protection. We set them to clearing the nearby buildings for emergency housing and securing what resources they could, from foodstuffs to clothing to medical supplies. Basically, we looted, with guards from either of the two worlds’ militaries to keep our looters protected from other looters and the local gangs that had quickly grown popular for the “protection” they offered.
Queen Mardinest had sent a group of Shortcut engineers to Earth, the last use of the arrays before we had them shut down again for the literal safety of the world. They’d brought a ton of precious metals and jewels, steeped in power from close proximity to a god. With a lot of skill and a little luck, they’d be able to set up an anchor point on Earth, so people from Estreyer could travel here through their own Shortcuts. The process was extensive, but I looked forward to getting some more help. I’d specifically requested healers and people who could spontaneously produce clean water. Volunteers were abundant, since everyone was desperate to have me check them for, and possibly heal them and their families of, the Sickness. In fact, Queen Mardinest had reported a lot of bribery and underhanded dealings from people attempting to bump themselves up the waiting list.
The Estreyans raided a local cattle farm and flew back a batch of terrified sheep, which Sam first used his Black Sun Skill on, then killed with his Harbinger Skill, after destroying their ability to feel pain. Thus, he got a double charge to his healing, and we got meat.
As soon as the scientists were able to create a successful counter to the meningolycanosis via Sam, we went into mass-production, not only at our facility, but anywhere around the world with the resources to do so. I had news of the inoculation blasted over every inch of the city. Volunteer military and medical forces went out, injecting those already infected and giving the serum as a vaccination to those who were not. It wouldn’t stop the spread of the Sickness if one of the “wolves” were to bite a healthy person, but it would stop them from going immediately crazy and biting ten more people themselves. We implemented a policy that anyone who received the latest version of the serum had to be checked for the Sickness, as well. We enforced this by having the serum injectors also create a tattoo upon injection, which would be removed once they were cleared by our facility.
We brought as many people in to be inoculated and checked at the same time as possible, but we didn’t want the “wolves” to continue spreading their disease out in the city, so we also dropped off boxes of the serum injectors throughout the city for people to just take, with loud warnings about follow-up treatment. Those we brought in, we checked immediately, and then sent them to Sam, or one of the few Estreyan healers who were part of the invaders’ force, or even a human medic, depending on the type of injury they’d sustained in addition to the brain damage. Really, with some of the things these people had done to themselves while mindless, we were working miracles, feeding and watering them, and then putting them to work.
At first, a lot of people resisted when they found we were working with the Estreyans. Then, the first of NIX’s confessional news reports came out. “While our actions were radical, they were also necessary, as shown by the alien response. As soon as the state of emergency has been lifted, I will be stepping down from my position. I hope the people of this great nation can understand my actions were for the greater good, born from the desperation to save us all from total annihilation.”
We had to force them to adjust their confession several times before approval so that they didn’t leave out the more heinous crimes, like experimenting with biological warfare on kidnapped children. We allowed them to plead the justifications of their actions as they wished. People could decide for themselves whether NIX had been in the right. And they did.
I found it somewhat depressing that the response was so divided. Some people marched on the capitol in protest, while others commended NIX and those who had aided them for doing the right thing, even if it wasn’t easy. However, the first confession led to others, as well as investigation into the details of NIX’s actions. Players came forward and told of their kidnapping and blackmail. Journalists speculated about how things could have gone differently, if they had been handled with diplomacy instead of warmongering. Everyone wanted a public statement from me or my team members, but we were too busy.
The lance was in use twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. We rotated healing shifts to check as many people as possible. “Move over one station to get the tattoo removed, and then go to one of the healing stations,” I said to the woman I’d just checked. “The cut on your foot is infected.”
The woman nodded, bundled her too-thin shawl around her, and looked around, half-lost, before following my instructions and moving to the tattoo-removal station. She’d been brought in after one of the inoculation teams found her wandering the streets. She didn’t remember anything coherent since being bitten a couple days before.
“Next!” I called, and a dazed-looking boy came forward. I offered him a cup of filtered water, which he accepted gratefully. By this point, I didn’t bother talking to the people I checked any more than I had to. It wasted time I could be using to heal the next person.
Adam sat beside me on one of the folding chairs. “Your shift’s almost over. You doing okay?”
I nodded, pricking the boy’s hand and finding faint traces of the Sickness. I overwrote them swiftly, then directed him on to the tattoo removal station after giving him a second cup of water. He was dehydrated, but not injured. Finally, I turned to Adam. “I’m okay,” I said. I had one of the longest shifts besides Torliam, because whatever power fueled the lance’s healing, I either had more of it, or used it more efficiently than the other members of the team. “I’m getting better at this all the time.” I turned, and called, “Next!” We were lucky. Many of the people infected with meningolycanosis didn’t have the Sickness, and of those w
ho did, it was usually in a very early stage, and easy to eradicate.
I went through the routine with the middle-aged man who sat down. Water, pinprick, no Sickness this time. I waved him on. “How many, so far?” I said, trying to keep the weariness out of my voice. I knew Adam had checked the numbers before coming over to me.
“One-hundred fifty, for you. Total of two-hundred eighty so far today.”
“That’s it? Next!”
“That’s more than most of the rest of us can manage. And we’re getting faster.”
“It’s still not fast enough. That’s only a few thousand people, so far. We have tens of thousands to see, if not more.” I waved the next person in line over to the chair in front of me. “Maybe we could shave off some time, if we changed up the way we’re doing it. Line them up and go to them, instead. No water, have them prepared ahead of time by one of the medics. A few seconds add up, over the course of thousands of patients.”
Adam nodded, slowly. “We should try it.” He didn’t say what we were both thinking, though. The lance was too slow. Healing one person at a time was an unsound prospect, logistically.
YOUR MENTAL ACUITY HAS INCREASED!
“Sam’s been healing people’s brain damage since before the sun rose this morning. I’m worried he’ll actually end up just passing out at his station.” Adam’s tone was more serious than I’d have liked.
“Overwork? Do you think I should force him to take a break?”
When I waved for the next person, Adam grabbed my hand and gently pried the lance out of it. “I think you should both take a break.” When I opened my mouth to protest, he pointed at the link on my right arm. “Your shift’s already over. Go. I already sent a Window to Jacky. She’s on her way to start healing, and I’ll fill in for a couple minutes in the meantime.”